Another Union College Fossil Adventure

Champney Falls ...On the back way up Chocorua from the Kancamaugus. Tom (and Robert) setting up the ropes to do some laps.

Back in the 'dacks!

After five days on the road I got back to Lake Placid this afternoon. After a couple of hours in the office I did a 45 minute ski on my alpine touring gear. Notice the blue sugaring lines in the background - we are getting ready - as the maple trees will start to run in a few weeks.

Chamonix: 6:00 PM on March 11

As we arrive at different times, I am suggesting that we all meet in the center of town at the famous statue of Jacques Balmat and Horace-Benedict Saussure. We can have dinner and make weather dependent plans for the Saturday warm up trip.

Skiing the Vallee Blanche

A picture posted on a blog this past weekend. I believe this will be one of our tune up trips before we head out on the Haute Route.

Warmup Climb In Chamonix?

Mini Goulotte from Stian Hagen on Vimeo.

Outward Bound Motto

Our NCS 9th graders on a OB expedition ... To serve, to strive, and not to yield.

Nordic World Championships

Marit certainly seems in a class by herself. Kikkan took a tough fall in one of the sprint heats. Three US women scored world cup points in the 15k, and I am waiting to get a twitter feed about how the US men did in the 30k. (Northug won it.)

Going To The Alps

Less than two weeks to go. Dick got his last training ski in ... two laps up Tenney Mountain a defunct alpine area in New Hampshire. I am still in DC working and should be back in the mountains on Monday. Get psyched.

Ice Climbing Tips

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS BLOG ENTRY WITH EXCELLENT ICE CLIMBING ADVICE.

Avalanche Airbags Explained and Reviewed

Being a fossil who occasionally climbs with an original Chouinard piolet, skis with Ramer bindings, and carries a Rivendell frameless pack, I of course have no clue about what an avalanche airbag is. Reading ski mountaineering blogs to get in the right mind frame for the Haute Route, I have been exposed to this state of the art device ... What do you think?


CLICK HERE TO READ A REVIEW OF AIRBAG PACKS FROM THE WILD SNOW WEBSITE.

The Matterhorn from Riffleberg

Obviously a beautiful day to ski piste! It looks like the Hornli Ridge is in pretty good shape as well. This picture was taken near the riffelhorn, a small rock peak, where guides do 4-6 pitch routes, to teach beginners how to climb.

FOSSIL UPDATES AND CONFIRMED SIGHTINGS

As the enclosed pictures show Gary and his buddy John are up at his cabin in Wilmington climbing ice. So far the tally is: Green Gully, Multiplication Gully, and the Trap Dike. Hock is at the NAIS conference and he is halfway through his DC / NYC business trip. Mark and Liz had Danny over to dinner this week. (Give Danny some support as it is just a year since his wife passed away.) Brian is in Colorado skiing with his daughter. Greg and Tori survived the earthquake, however their house is the only one on the block still standing.

NCS skimeister

About 30 years ago I created an event to honor the days of four event skiers that we still do today. The goal of the skimeister was to get everyone out - on a fine winter day - doing all the different types of ski events, try new things, and not just ski their specialty. Over the years the events have changed somewhat, occasionally we have put in some whacky wrinkles (one ski and one snowshoe), and every so often we have students do all the events on a single pair of skis as in the 1920s.

The event this year was a great success, Lucy did all the events, although she was a little timid on the very icy slalom course and the jump. However, she finished second overall in the biathlon, and fifth overall in the Nordic event.

Customizing Your Ice Tools

Being a klutz with tools most of this SuperTopo discussion was way over my head, however I realize that many of my fossil friends like to putter around in their shop ... An interesting article which also includes of a review of every ice tool known to the human race!

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THE SUPERTOPO THREAD.

Chiller Pillar

Another picture from our Sunday climb over in Wilmington. This beautiful one pitch climb is in full sun all day, so beware, as it can get soft and mushy. Carter did a great lead, especially on the top portion which was quite thin. As an aside, there are great mixed route possibilities that might be top-roped.

Quote of the Week ... About Dougal Haston

Dougal Haston was the lone member of the small Anglo-American team to make it on the final push up the Eiger Direct, after John Harlin fell to his death when a fixed rope broke while he was jumaring. This climb catapulted Dougal into superstar status. He continued to do hard winter routes in the Alps and in the Himalayas until his death. Robin Campbell wrote a moving obituary in the 1976 SMC Journal, reprinted in the anthology GAMES CLIMBERS PLAY which closed with the line ...

"He's gone and, with him, a long loping stride, narrow hips, wide shoulders, a lipless grin and bright blue bivouacked eyes."

OMG ... google street view in the mountains!

The Google Street View snowmobile takes pictures of ski slopes for Google's Street View in front of the Matterhorn mountain in Zermatt, Switzerland on Feb. 21.

Thinking of Spring and Warm Rock

With overnight lows dropping well below zero, it is not unusual for north country rock jocks to begin dreaming of scratching some warm granite. Of course it is way too early to throw in the towel on the winter season, however this footage of Lynn Hill and Ron Kauk bouldering in Yosemite ought to get you thinking about rock climbing.

Yoga for Alpinists

After a bunch of skiing during the past few weeks, it was time for some yoga to stretch out tight muscles.

After The Haute Route

For those not jumping on the Matterhorn there is a wide-range of piste, and off piste options. My suggestion given good weather is the tour to the summit of Monta Rosa. (CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT.)

Not Progressing As A Climber?

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ANDY KIRKPATRICK'S BLOG..

Recent Chamonix Snow Report

Conditions de neige / Snow Report: Helbronner, 17th feb 11 from sébastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

FANTASTIC!

Cutting Edge Mixed Scottish Climbing

A Critically Important Ski Mountaineering Skill

Calling All Fossils

On March 5th or 6th as my final Haute Route tune-up I would like to do a day trip up the North Face ... Anyone psyched?

Kikkan Randall on a roll

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE THE PHOTOGRAPH AND READ THE TEXT.

More Haute Route Training

Sunday was spectacular. A few sore muscles, a few blisters, and a variety of travel schedules had us all over the place. Frank and Edward started early and went to the summit of Whiteface. The Union guys skied up the Toll Road before heading for home. Carter led Chiller Pillar (NEI 4) after the Toll Road.

A Fossil Gathering

Murph, Stegs, Harry, and Leftie from Union, as well as Frank a Edward from NCS/CTT ... Training for the Haute Route. Yesterday skiing up Whiteface, and today skiing up the Toll Road and climbing Chiller Pillar.

Fair hope Farm Blog

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS HER BLOG.

VIDEO: climbing the croz spur

Croz spur with Slovenian start- Grandes Jorasses from Jonathan Griffith on Vimeo.

ADIRONDACK ICE

This picture was from a few weeks ago, when Robert (Union College '78) climbed Roaring Brook Falls (NEI 3+). The photograph was taken from the first belay stance.

Trap Dike Gets Skied

READ THE TRIP REPORT AND WATCH THE SLIDESHOW.

Extreme Skiing NCS Style

Last week Dave skied the Trouble Slab, a 45-50 degree, 5.2 rock slab, high above our campus. Perfect conditions yielded to his athletic tele-jump turns.

JI Nordic Racers at the Scando Cup

Latest Chamonix Snow Report

The 1972 Chouinard Catalog

One the most prized items in my climbing library is this copy of the famous and trend-setting mail order catalog. In a world with no Internet or blogs, few books and magazines that covered climbing, nor a plethora of specialty shops, here was a thin tome that spelled out the philosophy and announced the vision for a new generation of alpinists. I started climbing the year this catalog was produced.


CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ABOUT THIS SEMINAL WORK OF ART.

Petzl Counterfeits

Five Ways To Improve Your Yoga

CLICK TO READ THE ARTICLE FROM YOGA JOURNAL.

Alpine Touring

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THE ARTICLE.

Extreme Skiing in Chamonix

Glen Plake, from moguls to ski mountaineering. from sébastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

North face of the Matterhorn

A short video following a Fall ascent of this classic route. It has always been on my "hit list" and part of me wants to bring enough gear in March just in case!

North Face of the Matterhorn from ffatcamp on Vimeo.

Light Is Right

John Bouchard in the early 1970s making his mark in Chamonix. Later he steals the best local gal (Titoune), gets an MBA and starts Wild Things. His mantra "Light is Right" effected all of us, and especially influenced his young employee Mark Twight. Enjoy this page out of an early Wild Things catalogue, compliments of the Cold Thistle website.


CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE 1984 WILD THINGS CATALOG.

No Snow in Chamonix?

It has not snowed in a month, however as the cognoscenti know, there is good snow to be found ... even powder stashes.

Somewhere in Chamonix from Felix Hentz on Vimeo.

100th Dartmouth Winter Carnival

A short video about the nordic races at this legendary event.

Carni Love from Revived Films on Vimeo.

Steve House Interviews Colin Haley

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO THE SPORTIVA WEBSITE INTERVIEW.

Looking Pretty Good for 84K

5 Great Books of Mountain Exploration

A wonderful short essay introducing you to five fabulous books. I am familiar with four (Shipton, Whymper, Tilman, and Herzog), and I am totally unfamiliar with Freshfield's "Around Kanchenjunga" ... However if I can get aided copy maybe I will take it to the Alps holiday. I strongly encourage a look at Mark Horrell's blog.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE BLOG.

Shredding it

Larry's son Pete at the Tow House on the NCS Ski Hill ... Getting after it

More Canadian Ski Marathon

Day #2 ... with 70+ kilometers behind them, Lucy and Hannah pull into my gu stop to fuel up for the last 12 klicks. No whining, mostly good technical skiing, and they only used the survival shuffle for the last few kilometers. Next year we aim to have a team of four and take the youth title back to NCS.

Canadian Ski Marathon

Some large blisters ended our day early after 40k and about 2000'. However, a superb day, the kids skied quite well, and faster than I imagined. Tomorrow we aim for three sections and 45k.

Video: skiing Kashmir

Kashmir - A Skier's Journey: Ep1 from Jordan Manley Photography on Vimeo.

Chamonix and the Alps

The Alps started the season with copious and frequent early season snowfalls. However, there has been no snow for a month. Instead, there have been long stetches of sunny, warm weather, and settled snow conditions. Of course, my wildest fear is that we get over there, the weather turns, and we have two weeks of non-stop storms. (This is similar to what happened in the early 1990s when I went across the big pond ... All I can say was that we did not get any climbing in but we skied unbelievable powder ... Not a bad trade-off I guess.)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

With one month to go before we head to the Alps, I thought I would use a Dougal Haston quote cited in the Connor's book. After all, Dougal was one of the first Brits to jump into the Alpjne Winter climbing scene.

"In winter, the mountains seem to regain their primitive, virginal pride, and no more do the howling, littering summer masses tramp their more accessible slopes."

Adirondack Avalanche Conditions

During the past stormy weekend two skiers had an unplanned bivouac in a snow cave, on their way to ski the Dix slides (pictured). Snow conditions were challenging, and there is an avalanche warning for all Adirondack slides. Be careful in the backcountry.


CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE.

Canadian Ski Marathon

We are getting excited! The goal for the two NCS racers - Lucy and Hannah - is to do a total of 84-105 kilometers. As you can see from the course profile, it will be a big challenge. I will be along as the pack mule, carrying the extra clothes, wax, first aid equipment, and food. (Click on the image to enlarge the graph.)

The Ueli Steck Training Regimen

The man, the myth, the legend!


CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS PHOTO-ESSAY.

Reusch Block Test

Today in Larry's Earth science class students did a reusch block snow stability test on a 30 degree, north facing slope. The culmination of the snow physics unit comes in ten days with student presentations of their avalanche research.

Extreme Skiing NCS Style

The picture is from my last lap of a pre-dawn ski. I realized that it was going to be a busy day, and that my only chance to tour with the demo skis from the Mountaineer (Karhu Guide XCD and silvretta 500s) would be very early by headlamp. However, now my young staff are stopping by the office every free period they have ... the word is out ... the Trouble slab a 5.2 friction climb on campus is in perfect condition. During the past 30+ years it has only been skied a couple of times, first by Lindsay Putnam, ex-USST racer and a charter member of the "Ski To Die Club." Yesterday, it got its 4th and 5th descents.

Too old, and too much work is the answer I have been giving the young staff!

The Munter Hitch

A concise and important article from CLIMBING magazine on the key uses of the Munter hitch, the Munter mule, and the auto-blocking Munter.


CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE.

Shangri-La Ski Expedition (part 2)

Shangri-La Ski Expedition Part 2 from camp4 collective on Vimeo.

Nanda Devi, Spies, Plutonium, and the Cold War

A little known episode in American mountaineering, is the attempt in the 1960s to plant a plutonium powered listening device on top of Nanda Devi. The CIA enticed a bunch of prominent mountaineers to become trained as spies, and to place this device in the Himalayas so that it might pick up information about China's nuclear tests. I have read Takeda's very good AN EYE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD, and intend to get a copy of Kohli's SPIES IN THE HIMALAYAS.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS THE TRAILER TO THE DOCUMENTARY FILM PROJECT.

Shangri-La Ski Expedition

Shangri-La Ski Expedition_Part 1 from camp4 collective on Vimeo.

Haute Route Training

Dick skied up the ski trail to Cardigan Mountain. This old ski trail is maintained by the Dartmouth Outing Club and climbs about 1000'. He reported very crusty conditions from the Saturday evening rain. He also skated a very fast 20k on Saturday ... He appears fit ... We will reserve judgement on how he handles his ice axe!